The Catholic Courier published a couple of good articles today in regards to priestly vocations.  It’s good timing with the upcoming Rosary for Priestly Vocations.

“Family man eyes historic ordination” by Mike Latona

The “family man” is Dr. Deacon Scott Caton, a real treasure for the diocese.  The whole thing is worth reading, but for you lazy people here’s your snippet.   Be sure to keep him in your prayers.

By and large, Deacon Caton said Protestants’ reaction to his pursuit of the priesthood has been affirming.

“People here (at Roberts Wesleyan), either they’ve been supportive or inquisitive about it. I’ve not gotten the impression that they’ve been upset about it,” he said.
A notable exception became evident on the day of his diaconal ordination, when Baptist street preachers used blaring bullhorns outside Sacred Heart Cathedral to denounce Deacon Caton as a heretic.
Doug Mandelaro, diocesan spokesman, said diocesan officials chose to ignore the protesters. Deacon Caton, on the other hand, found them difficult to tune out since they directed cutting remarks toward him, his wife and his children.

“Well, I never expected it and I hope it doesn’t resurface at the priestly ordination,” he said. “For me it cast a shadow over the (diaconal) ordination. I haven’t had any kind of opposition on that level ever before. Apparently these people felt they needed to tell people the ‘truth’ about the Catholic Church. That was difficult, let’s put it that way, even though I know that not everybody is going to be happy with what I’m doing — especially those who believe the Catholic Church is the Antichrist or something like that.”
Deacon Caton said he hopes for differing denominations to seek unity in Christ — a unity that “compels us to overcome some of these historical, cultural and hermeneutical hard-wirings that we bring to the table. That is the operative deepest truth — if we are one in Christ, we are brothers and sisters. Christians today need to come together to do things to minister to the world in unity and show Jesus Christ’s reality to the rest of the world. Certainly not everyone is going to come together as one church, but they can see they’ve got way more in common than what they hold separately.”

“(Bishop) Fulton Sheen said, ‘Most people don’t hate what the Catholic Church teaches — they hate what they think the Catholic Church teaches,'” Deacon Caton added. “The one thing I hate more than anything else is misrepresentation. It’s easier to have tags and labels. It takes hard work to learn the truth — to learn the other side and learn about it fairly.”

“Men discern vocations at Becket Hall” by Jennifer Burke

This will be the largest number of seminarians the diocese has had in more than 10 years, Dady said. There have been a few “sparse” years over the past decade, and 2005-06 was one of those years, she said. That year, there were just two men at Becket Hall and five in seminary, but the recent larger numbers of seminarians and discerners marks a possible trend in the diocese toward greater interest in priestly vocations.

…

Several men in discernment have told Father Coffas they also were inspired by local priests, who work very hard yet find priestly ministry very fulfilling. Dady, Father Horan and the rest of the diocesan vocations-awareness team have worked tirelessly to encourage young men to open their hearts and minds to God’s call, he added.

“When you plant the seed and cultivate it, it does start to bear fruit,” Father Coffas remarked.

Praise God for all of these men and their wonderful stories!

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